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The main design feature of the Asus Transformer Pad is the large expanse of glass which spans the front of the tablet. This is something it shares with pretty much ever tablet currently on the market. There is a small Asus logo along the top edge of the screen alongside the front-facing 1.2 Megapixel camera which is slightly offset from centre. The tablet weighs 635g and measures 263 x 180.8 x 9.9 mm.
There isn’t anything particularly special about the screen panel itself compared to other tablets on the market. It’s an IPS unit which measures 10.1” diagonally with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. This is a long way off the resolution offered by the latest iPad but is similar to the other Android tablets available on the market.
Viewing angles are reasonably impressive and brightness levels would be classed as the market average. We wouldn’t recommend the Transformer Pad for outdoor use, though, as the highly reflective screen coating makes the display very difficult to read in direct light.
Asus have chosen to use plastic for the back casing of the tablet which consists of a clamshell design with a textured concentric circle pattern. Our sample is finished in blue but there are also red and white versions of the tablet available. We would have preferred to see Asus using a metal back for the tablet as the plastic doesn’t feel very durable. If you’re willing to pay a bit extra, the next model up in the range, the Asus Transformer Prime, features a metal casing.
Along the top edge of the back panel we find the 8 Megapixel rear facing camera which should be enough for most users needs. After all, a tablet is really two large for using to take photos and videos when you’re on the move.
We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the loudspeaker which is integrated into the back panel of the tablet. It manages to achieve volume levels far in excess of what our Lenovo X220 notebook is capable of without any distortion at all.
This is perfectly adequate for watching a movie or catching up on the latest TV shows but the quality isn't really god enough for music playback. We would recommend a good set of headphones or speakers for this.
The unlock button is the only button on the top edge of the tablet while the volume rocker is located on the left edge alongside a mini HDMI connector and a Micro SD card slot. The only other connections on the tablet are a 3.5mm jack on the right hand edge and the dock connector on the bottom edge.
